


Flight Plan

by Charlotte_Lancer



Series: Flight Plan Series [1]
Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF, Top Gear (UK) RPF
Genre: Affairs, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But mostly angst, Cliche, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Not Beta Read, Sharing a Bed, or at least a hopeful ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlotte_Lancer/pseuds/Charlotte_Lancer
Summary: A delayed flight leads to a shared bed, which leads to an awkward morning and some new realizations.





	Flight Plan

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in less than two hours, and it is not beta read. I apologize for the first few paragraphs being a little choppy.

Richard woke with his face pressed against the top buttons of Jeremy’s dress shirt, the sound of snoring filling the room telling him that James was still asleep on the other side of Jeremy.

The hotel had had only had one room left, unfortunately, and then only with one bed. They were meant to be staying at a different hotel- the one that Andy and the crew were currently waiting for them at- but a missed flight and too many delays had scrapped that plan.

While the three of them had certainly shared worse accommodations throughout the years than a single room in a clean hotel, none of those had required them to pile themselves all into the same too-small bed.

Hoping to have a shower before the hot water was used up, Richard attempted to extract himself from the bed without waking either of the other men, a feat made more difficult by Jeremy’s arm, which had found its way across Richard’s shoulders sometime during the night. Richard rolled over and tried to slip away slowly, but the movement stirred Jeremy enough to cause the arm holding him in place to tighten.

He glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand- just past 5am, and their replacement flight didn’t leave until noon. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to get just a bit more sleep; the alarm would wake them in an hour, and Jeremy was soft and warm. Settling back into a more comfortable position, still facing the clock, Richard let himself drift off again.

……………………...…..

When Richard woke for the second time, it wasn’t from the alarm, the sunlight, James’s snoring, or anything else that he might have expected. No, he woke to something- someone- hard pressing against his lower back. Deciding that it wasn’t worth trying to find a less awkward position to sleep in for less than an hour’s time, Richard once again tried to remove himself from the bed, less gently this time. Still, Jeremy didn’t wake, pulling an arm tightly around Richard’s chest and sighing.  _ Probably dreaming about his wife _ , thought Richard. As much as he’d like to tease Jeremy about this later, he knew Jeremy would somehow turn it back on him- probably with a joke about him being a short as a girl, or something along that line.

Now annoyed with being trapped, Richard decided he didn’t care if he woke Jeremy while getting up. He pushed the arm off of him with enough force that Jeremy stirred slightly, and said,

“Richard.”

“Had to get up, sorry mate.” He stood, stretching out his back as he got up.

“Mmm, Richard, don’t stop.” Jeremy said as Richard straightened himself out.

“Real funny, Jeremy.” Richard collected some clothes from his suitcase and headed for the bathroom, freezing when he heard Jeremy moan his name again.

He looked back at the bed, and saw that Jeremy still had his eyes closed. Jeremy was breathing harder than usual, his arm dragging across the now open space on the bed. With a final gasp of Richard’s name, Jeremy jolted slightly, then stilled. Richard watched until Jeremy’s breathing evened out again and he settled back into what was clearly genuine sleep.

_ Shit _ , he thought,  _ not a joke, then _ .

He hurried into the bathroom as silently as possible, and blocked out all thoughts from his mind as he stepped into the shower.

………………...….

When Richard walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later, the scene on the bed was exactly as he’d left it. James was sleeping stock-still with his back to Jeremy, who was laying on his back and sleeping quietly. Nothing to give away what had happened just minutes before. Richard could almost convince himself that he’d imagined the whole incident, and he probably would have done just that if Jeremy hadn’t picked that exact moment to jolt up awake, lock eyes with Richard for a brief moment, and then all but run from the room.

The sound of the door knocking closed behind the bare-footed Jeremy was finally enough to wake James, who sat up and shot a confused look at Richard. Richard said nothing, which caused James to lift a questioning eyebrow. Richard shook his head.

“Not mine to explain.”

James thankfully took him at his word, and made for the shower himself, leaving Richard alone in the room.

_ Maybe it was just a one-off,  _ thought Richard,  _ A side effect of sleeping so close together in the tiny bed. Especially since Jeremy was basically spooning him in order to avoid pressing into James and invoking is ire. Yeah, that had to be it,  _ he perked up at the thought,  _ just a natural consequence of the situation. _

Feeling relieved, as well as something else that he couldn’t quite identify, Richard finished getting ready, and grabbed his phone to head down to breakfast. He yelled into the bathroom to let James know where he was going, and stepped into the hallway as James called back his acknowledgement.

………………………...……

When he arrived in the breakfast area, he spotted Jeremy sitting at a table that was tucked into the far corner of the room. He was still in just socks, his shoes left in the room three floors above. He was staring down at his coffee as if it had personally betrayed him in some way, and absentmindedly pushing the remains of his breakfast around the plate with his fork.

Richard got himself a coffee and a plate of eggs, careful not to be spotted, and walked over to join him. Jeremy didn’t even notice him approaching, and nearly jumped out of his seat when Richard sat down across from him. Jeremy stared at him like a deer in the headlights, unusually silent. Richard sighed, realising that Jeremy wasn’t going to let this go on his own.

“Food’s ok,” Richard said between bites, “could use some cheese.” He waited for the Secret American jokes to come, but Jeremy just hummed his agreement and took a sip of his coffee.

“Coffee’s good, though. Not stale like hotel stuff usually is.” Still Jeremy said nothing, and Richard was starting to lose patience.

“Look, Jeremy, are you going to be like this all day? Because the crew is going to notice something’s up, and awkward silence doesn’t exactly make for compelling telly.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he saw James approaching the table.  _ Dammit _ . That man had the worst timing.

Richard stabbed down at his eggs, determined to corner Jeremy at some point before they started filming.

……………………...

That point ended up coming at the waiting area of the airport. They’d headed to the airport immediately after their breakfast, hoping that an earlier flight might become available, and sat themselves in the empty waiting area for the flight they were booked on. James, having realised that he’d forgotten to pack something or other- Richard hadn’t been listening too closely, distracted by his situation with Jeremy- had wandered off to find one of the airport’s many shops.

Jeremy was staring intently out the window, studiously ignoring the fact that Richard was sitting just two seats away from him.

“Jeremy, come on, why won’t you talk to me.”

…

“You’re going to have to speak to me at some point, mate. We work together, in case you hadn’t noticed.

…

“Jeremy, if this is still about this morning, it’s not a big deal, it happens to everyone. Can we please just get on with our lives?”

Jeremy sighed loudly, and shut his book much more forcefully than was necessary. He looked over at Richard with what could only be described as a glare, yet something was just slightly off with the expression. It wasn’t until Jeremy’s eyes briefly dropped down to Richard’s mouth that Richard realised what the problem was.

“Oh.” Not a one-off, then. Yet, somehow, Richard didn’t find himself as surprised as he would have thought he’d be.

“Yeah, ‘oh’. Look, I’m just going to go anywhere else now, I’ll be back for the flight, don’t worry, you can stick James between us.”

Jeremy stood up to leave, and Richard’s hand shot out without his permission to catch Jeremy around the wrist, stopping him.

“Wait-” He didn’t know what to say, but he knew he couldn’t let Jeremy go off in this state. He’d end up doing something stupid and impulsive that would inevitable lead to him being splashed across every tabloid in Britain.

“Let go of me, Richard, I don’t want to hear it right now.”

“What- what do you think I’m going to say?” Richard was honestly not sure himself what was going to come out of his mouth next; his body seemed to be operating on autopilot at the moment, choosing words and actions without his input.

Looking supremely irritated, Jeremy said, “That you’re not interested, that you’re married, that  _ I’m  _ married, that you’re not-”

“Jeremy, I… I care about you, a lot, and I-” Richard didn’t quite know what he was trying to say, but suddenly the idea of forgetting about this morning seemed even more terrifying than acknowledging it.

“Look, Richard, if you’re trying to let me down gently, you can stop, I know you don’t want me. Now let go of me and-”

“I’m not- I do- I,” Richard practically growled with frustration, and slid his hand down from Jeremy’s wrist to lace with his fingers. “I’m not trying to let you down at all, you idiot.”

Blue eyes met his, wide with shock, and Richard took the opportunity to stand up. He grabbed the back of Jeremy’s head to pull him down, and kissed him harshly. After a second of stillness, Jeremy began to kiss back, dropping his arms down to wrap loosely around Richard’s waist.

Richard spared half a thought to hope that no one would walk by at that particular moment, before surging up onto his toes to press himself more firmly against Jeremy. It felt, well, strange, honestly, but also pleasant. Richard wasn’t used to trying to kiss someone taller than him, and his neck was starting to hurt, but the warm weight of Jeremy’s hands resting on his back was intoxicating, and Richard couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

Jeremy, it seemed, had other ideas, however, and he stepped away from Richard with reluctance clear on his face.

“This is a terrible idea,” Jeremy said, staring at Richard’s lips, “for so many reasons, not least of which being that we’re in public, and anyone, including James, or a reporter, could walk by at any moment.”

Sobered slightly, Richard nodded. “Right. Not here.” Richard swallowed. “But not nowhere, either.” He looked to meet Jeremy’s eyes, and what he saw there certainly held promise.

“Later,” Jeremy agree, and stepped to sit back down in the seat that had previously separated them.

Satisfied, hopeful, and still just a bit terrified- not that he’d ever admit it- Richard sat down as well, just in time for James to wander back into the waiting area.

His appearance sent a cold shock through Richard’s body. Not James himself, mind- James was as non-threatening as ever, dressed in an awful sweater and carrying a small bag- but the reality that his reappearance had just brought Richard back to.

_ What the hell was he doing? He had a wife and kids! So did Jeremy, for that matter. And they had an entire show depending on their ability to work together well- relationships with coworkers never worked out well, especially when said relationship was an affair! Whatever he felt for Jeremy- and, shit, he really couldn’t find the right word to put on those feelings- he shouldn’t be doing this. Right? _

Richard was reasonably certain that he was close to hyperventilating, though neither James nor Jeremy seemed to have noticed yet. James, because he had sat down to Richard’s right and was now obliviously filling in a crossword puzzle, while Jeremy appeared to be going through much the same thought process as Richard.

Richard check his watch. Still over three hours until their flight.

_ Great _ .

Richard moved his left hand over slightly, and let it rest against Jeremy’s leg.

Jeremy gave him a hesitant smile in return, and Richard vowed that somehow, someway, they would make this work.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if anything seems OOC, I've only just started watching Top Gear a few weeks ago.
> 
> Thank you for reading this :)


End file.
